ART4HEALING & STUDIO ART
ART SPEAKS WHERE WORDS CANNOT.
ART4HEALING
Certified in an established program called "Art4Healing", Crescent Moon Center's director will facilitate a theme-based two-hour art workshop using acrylics, watercolors, pastels and collage. It is a fast-paced painting project created around themes and questions within the themes, some allowing only 2 minutes to respond to. At the end of each exercise, participants are encouraged to share about their painting experience and the emotions involved. This is an educational exercise, and no prior art experience is necessary.
STUDIO ART
Center participants will have access to a well-equipped art studio which allows self-expression through art in an unstructured environment, selecting from a range of materials such as paint, clay, etc. An Artist in Residency will provide a peer mentorship to all particpants.
ART4HEALING & STUDIO ART
ART SPEAKS WHERE WORDS CANNOT.
ART4HEALING
Certified in an established program called "Art4Healing", Crescent Moon Center's director will facilitate a theme-based two-hour art workshop using acrylics, watercolors, pastels and collage. It is a fast-paced painting project created around themes and questions within the themes, some allowing only 2 minutes to respond to. At the end of each exercise, participants are encouraged to share about their painting experience and the emotions involved. This is an educational exercise, and no prior art experience is necessary.
STUDIO ART
Center participants will have access to a well-equipped art studio which allows self-expression through art in an unstructured environment, selecting from a range of materials such as paint, clay, etc. An Artist in Residency will provide a peer mentorship to all particpants.
Healing Reflections
Rush Ranch*, Suisun City, CA
(We also have a mobile program for groups of people that aren’t able to travel to Rush Ranch.)
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Equine-Assisted Learning
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Collaborative Art
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Poetic Medicine
(Creative Writing) -
Painting
-
Photography
-
Peer-Support
-
Group Activities
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Community Events
*Our program is hosted at Rush Ranch thanks to the generosity of our community partner The Solano Land Trust.
Crescent Moon Center is a place for healing through horses and art located at Rush Ranch on a 2070 acre nature preserve.
Our program is for people in recovery who share a commitment to long-term sobriety.
Experience workshops designed to generate new insights, healing, growth and purpose through:
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power of words (Poetry)
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visual expression of thoughts and emotions (Painting & Photography)
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deep insights from horses
(Equine-Assisted Learning) -
community (Group Activities)
Join us for an innovative, experiential journey into recovery
that nurtures creative expression & connection to community.
You Will Receive
Peer-Facilitator Training
& Internships
Professional development and training opportunities empower you to become a facilitator of peer-support groups and workshops. You can also get involved in program development, community building, nonprofit management, event planning, fundraising, and marketing communication.
*Please note that lodging is not included. We can assist you and provide information.
Healthy snacks and beverages will be provided. There's a kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave for you to bring your own lunch. You can also opt-in to have lunch delivered (at your own expense.)
Sliding Scale
Donations
At least 50% of participants in our program receive scholarships thanks to Crescent Moon's Giving Circles. We welcome sliding scale donations to enable participation and ensure no one is turned away for lack of funds.
Please consider contributing at the highest rate you can afford. Your generosity supports Crescent Moon's program, staff, and fellow participants. Any amount contributed above the Base Level is a tax-deductible donation to Crescent Moon Center.
Workshops
Connection
Introspection
Healing
Growth
Purpose
Our program is inspired by scientific research into the healing benefits of equine-assisted learning and creative expression which support mental health and addiction recovery.
Our innovative, experiential learning program includes equine-assisted learning, poetic medicine (creative writing), photography, abstract painting and collaborative mural-making workshops, as well as ongoing community activities and peer-support.
After each workshop, time is set aside for reflection and integration of lessons learned so that new insights can be applied on your journey to wellness and sobriety.
We create a safe space for deep personal work and connection to ourselves, each other, and community.
*Please Note: Our COVID protocols limit groups to 10 participants. We ask participants to wear masks and social distance. Rapid home test kits will be provided for regular testing during the program, before and after each workshop day.
Which of our workshops are you most interested in?
Click on the image below to learn more.
Equine-Assisted Learning
Equine-assisted learning helps people with substance use disorders and mental health challenges.
This workshop takes place in a round pen where you partner with horses to help identify and achieve personal goals, problem-solve, and build life skills. Through engagement with horses, you learn to be mindful and present, to better understand boundaries, and to practice compassion and kindness within relationships. Horses exemplify and encourage authenticity and confidence. All participants will witness this human-horse interaction, discuss and share their observations.
Our workshops are led by certified and experienced equine-assisted learning facilitators.
Therapeutic Carriage Riding
In addition to providing the horses for our Equine-Assisted Learning workshops, our partner Access Adventure gives us the unique and inclusive opportunity for a horse drawn carriage ride into nature. The horse and carriage driver exemplify teamwork, effective communication, and partnership.
Art 4 Healing
This workshop is an artistic journey into deep thoughts and feelings through shapes and colors.
Use colors to respond to questions posed by a facilitator in this fast-paced, theme-based group creativity workshop.
Creative expression allows for personal insights and opens us to inspiration, hope, and our inner authenticity.
Singing Tree Project
Our collaborative mural-making workshop is the first in the series because it brings people together around shared values and agreements for group interaction.
Discuss and explore themes which include building healthy relationships and community, inspiring hope, honoring nature, celebrating art & creativity, and cultivating health, resilience, and well-being. Then you will collaboratively conceptualize, design, and paint a mural.
Splash
SPLASH is the last in the series because it allows participants to experience freedom and an emotional release from the deep processing of prior workshops.
You use of a variety of tools including large canvasses, oversized brushes, sponges, rags, and unconventional painting techniques, such as splattering and ragging horizontally (on the easel) and vertically (on the ground).
Meditation is integrated into the session to keep you in the moment and enable shifts in
your perspective.
Plein Air Painting
Express your thoughts and feelings through shapes and colors. Paint the landscape that surrounds you. This workshop gives you the unique opportunity to absorb the serenity and beauty of Rush Ranch.
Photography
Receive thoughtful exercises to light up your imagination and look at life through metaphors.
Photography will be used as a tool for reflection and integration throughout the program.
Capture in photographs an insight, feeling or inspiration from the days’ workshops to encourage reflection and integration of your experiences. You are invited to share and discuss your photographs with the group and to exhibit your artwork in the closing of the workshop series.
Poetic Medicine
Anyone can put pen to paper; what happens after that is a journey. Poetry is a dance of one’s spirit in words.
Poetry and creative writing are compelling and effective tools in the journey toward wellness. This workshop takes place with participants sitting in a circle. You are given a book of poems to read out loud which inspire discussion, and writing prompts. After each writing exercise, you read your poems to one another. This process allows you to rewrite internal dialogues and narratives, while also bringing about a feeling of being seen, deeply listened to, and connected to community.
Community Activities
& Peer Support
Active engagement with recovery and community support systems helps to avoid relapse and maintain long-term sobriety. After the 6-day workshop series, you can stay connected to community through monthly activities, 1:1 peer-mentorships, and peer-support groups.
In the months between workshops, we offer free group activities and 1:1 opportunities:
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plein-air painting
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equine-assisted-learning sessions
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a day at Rush Ranch with our partner Access Adventure for rides in horse-drawn carriages
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nature walks with the Solano Land Trust at Rush Ranch and their other wildlife preserves
In 2023, new workshops, group activities and community events may include:
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music
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storytelling
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dance & movement
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yoga & meditation
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gardening
Art Exhibits & Community Events
As an integral part of the program, participants will be invited to curate and exhibit their art, writings, and photography. Art exhibits will be hosted at Rush Ranch for participants’ family, friends, and members of the recovery community.
We will host recovery community events and art exhibits, featuring works of art by Bay Area artists in recovery, Crescent Moon workshops, community partners and sponsors, live music, dance, performances with horses, and keynote speakers to educate and engage the public.
Volunteer & Internship Program
We offer professional development opportunities and training to become facilitators of peer-support groups and workshops. Over time, volunteers will progress to interns, then to co-facilitators, and ultimately to paid workshop facilitators
Volunteers and interns can also get involved in program development, community building, nonprofit and project management, event planning, fundraising, and marketing communication.
WHO THIS PROGRAM IS FOR
All are welcome!
No prior experience with horses or art is necessary.
Our program is for adults (18+) who are looking for connection to community and a fresh perspective that includes new and creative ways to help with long-term sobriety.
Our program is designed to support your mental health and wellness, active recovery process, authentic engagement with personal goals, and integration into meaningful personal relationships and employment.
Many participants do not have the resources to attend private rehabilitation inpatient and outpatient services. Others have exhausted their financial resources while still needing support on their recovery journey.
As a nonprofit, we are dedicated to improving access to recovery resources and programs for diverse, underserved and under-resourced communities. Through scholarships, we enable participation for those who need financial support.
We work in partnership with the Solano County Land Trust and Access Adventure to primarily serve the residents of Solano County, one of the most underserved and under-resourced counties in CA. Participants also come from the Greater Bay Area and around the country.
Meet Our Facilitators
Karen Kahn
Karen Kahn is the founder and President of Crescent Moon Center. She is an attorney, equestrian, artist, writer, and mother who lives in the Bay Area with her husband, dog, and horses. She is a certified member of the Board of Equine Interaction Professionals and certified in Art4Healing. She is a strong proponent of the belief that horses, and creative arts can have a transformative effect on one’s life.
Michael Muir
Michael Muir is the great grandson of John Muir, the explorer. He is a champion in dressage, driving and he continues to breed the Stone Wall horse at Rush Ranch. Michael has suffered from MS since he was 15 years old, is a two-time cancer survivor and is mobility limited. Despite these challenges, he drives forward and is an inspiration to everyone.
Victoria Tugwell
Vickie is Crescent Moon’s Program Coordinator & Facilitator. On her journey to recovery through multiple addictions and mental health challenges, she found her place in the world as a Mindfulness Instructor, Body Positive Facilitator and Yoga12SR Instructor.
With the gift of sobriety, she has been able to fulfill her dream of becoming an Intuitive Healer, Certified Massage Therapist, and an Animal Osteopath.
Laurie Marshall
Laurie Marshall, M.A. is a cutting-edge educator and creative activist who uses collaborative art to envision healing of heartbreak. She is a book author including, “Beating the Odds Now”, “Singing Trees: A Growing Forest”, and founder of the non-profit, Unity Through Creativity Foundation. Her Singing Tree collaborative mural methodology has produced over 90 murals with 20,000 people from 52 countries.
John Fox
John Fox is a Certified Poetry Therapist and Practitioner of Poetic Medicine and is a poet and author of numerous books including, “Finding What You Didn’t Lose: Expressing Your Truth and Creativity through Poem-Making.” He is an adjunct faculty member of several colleges and teaches around the globe.
Hilary Maslon
Hilary Maslon is an abstract painter with over 30 years of experience in painting and exhibiting. She has a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Queens. As an entrepreneur, ecologist, and lover of animals she brings a new perspective of art and healing. She has taught art to diversified groups and venues in NYC, Mississippi and California.
Julie Bridge
As Founder of Mearas and a lifelong equestrian, Julie understands the power of the horse/human relationship, and the profound realizations people achieve through working with these majestic beings. She has had the honor of studying with the foremost thought leaders in Equine Facilitated Learning and Equine Guided Education and is an Advanced EponaQuest Instructor, Riding Instructor and Equine Guided Educator.
CRESCENT MOON'S LOCATION
Crescent Moon's program is hosted at Rush Ranch thanks to the generous in-kind donation from the Solano Land Trust.
Rush Ranch is a 2,070-acre nature preserve of marsh and rolling grassland located in the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area, Suisun, CA. It is owned and managed by the Solano Land Trust. The working ranch includes a visitor center, turn-of-the-century blacksmith shop, historical ranching equipment, and hiking trails.
Solano Land Trust is a 501c3 nonprofit founded to protect land to ensure a healthy environment, keep ranching and farming families on their properties, and inspire a love of the land. Their work goes beyond conserving land; it’s also about ensuring that people’s relationship to the land remains strong.
We should take a moment to acknowledge the land on which we are gathered. For thousands of years, this land has been the home of Patwin people. Today, there are three federally recognized Patwin tribes: Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community, Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.
The Patwin people have remained committed to the stewardship of this land over many centuries. It has been cherished and protected, as elders have instructed the young through generations. We are honored and grateful to be here today on their traditional lands.
Rush Ranch
& Access Adventure
Thanks to our partner Access Adventure, whose wonderful horses we work with in our Equine-Assisted Learning workshops, we are able to provide the inclusive and unique opportunity for a horse drawn carriage ride into the magnificent beauty and serenity of Rush Ranch.
Rush Ranch hosts Access Adventure, a 501c3 nonprofit founded by Michael Muir, whose mission is to enrich the lives of people with disabilities and other underserved members of our community by providing outdoor recreation, open space access, education and therapy, through a working partnership with horses.
